Pretty in Pink

My baby girl has come so far!! This is just a simple portrait of her at 8 months old. The beautiful outfit and hand made doll were gifted to her by some very kind and talented people. You can see a picture of her from just 5 months ago HERE. She has overcame so much in her short life already. I am so excited to see what the future holds for her!

What a beautiful young lady. I must admit, your PICU photo shocked me. I was not expecting that. It took me back to my worst day in nursing school, Pediatric Intensive Care. I allowed myself to be overwhelmed. I walked off the floor crying. One of my fellow students noticed. She gave me absolute HELL, and sent me back in there. "She doesn't need a father. SHE NEEDS A NURSE! Go be her NURSE!"

Right now, the picture of a 20-something 5-foot-nothing girl yelling at a crying 58-year-old, 6' tall, 220# man to 'get BACK in there and be her NURSE!' brings a smile to my face. Thank you.

Thank you so much. And Tom, no judging here, I couldn't do that job. I give the nurses SO much credit. They made a completely unbearable situation a little bit easier for us and took such wonderful care of our sweet girl. I give them a ton of credit for how well she is doing today.

Tom, I can grok. That's so cool that your fellow student gave you what you needed so you could be the nurse you were to be. My baby spent her first eight weeks in the NICU, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We were lucky. My baby, Jenell, just turned 18. She almost didn't make it through her first hour, and the next eight weeks were surrealistic. It takes special people to be nurses, especially when their patients are tiny. (The last 18 years haven't been a picnic, but we know the value of every single day.)

Lisa, I know you, Sylvie, and your entire family have been through much more. The linked Facebook page with the photos reminds me of my Borg Baby, connected to an IV, respirator, and various monitors, under french fry lamps. You folks will do well. Sylvie's smile says everything.

Thank you so much Graham, and wow - 8 weeks is crazy. Sylvie did 12 days in the NICU, then was sent home to grow. She was readmitted at 2 1/2 months old with failure to thrive (we could not get her to eat enough to gain weight properly). They kept her there all the while debating whether to send her home again with an NG tube to help her grow some more, or just get her surgery done. We knew the surgery was inevitable and at that point, we were just over it and wanted it behind us. Being home with her and trying to enjoy her baby days with that looming open heart surgery hanging over us like a dark cloud was really hard. At 3 months old, they went ahead and did her operation. Thankfully she did very well with her surgery and was home just 6 days post-op.

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